Topic: Barack Obama
Barack Obama's New Deal: The "American Promise" There's only one promise a President should keep.by John Armstrong
(libertarian)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Barack Obama must have decided that the American Dream was dead. Luckily, he used his acceptance speech to educate Americans about something better. It's called the "American Promise."
It turns out that this is what all of that "Change" business was about. He doesn't want to make changes. He literally said outright that he intends to Change America.
And if his Promise sounds good to you, you'll probably vote for him. And that, my friend, is what is really wrong with our country today.
Voting based on your beliefs is killing America.
How often have you heard someone say, "I don't really pay attention to politics" and then follow it up with a meager "but I probably should"? The reason often given for not knowing more is that it is just "too complicated." And there is a reason it is complicated:
People vote based on their personal beliefs.
If you believe in the right of a woman to choose, you vote Democrat.
If you believe in the right of an unborn child to live, you vote Republican.
If you believe that the government should provide universal healthcare, you vote Democrat.
If you believe that spreading democracy is the best way to protect us from terrorists, you vote Republican.
If you believe that gay people and minorities have collective rights, you vote Democrat.
If you believe that Christians have collective rights, you vote Republican.
If you believe there is some sort of "American Promise" that Goverment should solve the problems we can't solve for ourselves like Obama does, and that some of the things we can't do for ourselves include: keeping our toys safe and investing in science and technology, then obviously you'd vote Democrat this time around.
How often have you heard that as an educated voter you should study the issues and then vote for the candidate who most closely shares the same beliefs as you on those issues? How many people have told you that they voted for someone because that candidate stands for what they believe in?
The paradigm shift that must occur for our country to be what it was intended to be is to stop asking this ridiculous question and start voting on the one and only issue that should matter: which candidate has the best ability to do what they are sworn in to do? I have asked about 50 people over the last week if they knew what it was that an elected federal government official was supposed to do--what they swear they will do--and not surprisingly not a single one so far has known.
Why? Because the discussion for so long has been based on voting based on what you believe, and there are so many different beliefs, that the whole thing has become "complicated." Do you know what these officials are supposed to do? If you do, congratulations, you are probably on the way to Minneapolis next week, or will at least be there in spirit. And it won't be to attend the RNC. If you don't know the answer to this simple question, it's okay. You're not stupid. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Your confusion is by design, but if you read on you may find some real answers that are incredibly simple. That's by design too, but I'm not the designer.
The reason voting for your beliefs is the wrong way to go about voting is that your candidate's actually following through on his/her campaign commitments may ultimately lead to a future where your beliefs may not matter at all. Huh? Let me explain.
Despite popular belief, the Constitution does not grant us our freedom or rights as American citizens. These "self-evident truths" are (depending on your personal beliefs) derived either from your Creator or from natural law. A person born in a place where no government existed would indeed be free, but his freedom would not be protected against another's freedom.
It was with this concept in mind that our nation's founders drafted the Constitution. It wasn't to give us freedom, which would necessarily imply that we aren't free unless the government allows us to be; it was to create a government that allowed a person to keep his natural state of freedom, so long as it didn't interfere with another's; this by turn protected his freedom against the use of theirs to deprive him of his. Therefore, the government as established by the Constitution was created for one reason: to protect the freedom with which we are all born.
Because the people who created this document had just pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" in order to regain this freedom from an oppressive government, they made sure when they wrote it that if it were followed no such government could ever exist in our country. It's not that these men were infallible demigods (although they were pretty dang smart), it was that they understood how much freedom cost and how much it was worth. They wanted to make sure that their sacrifice didn't go to waste. They wanted to "secure the blessings of liberty" to all future Americans.
Just as a successful progenitor will create specific rules for the trust he leaves his family, which if followed will ensure their wealth; our founders created a trust fund for our freedom. And much like the heirs who have little appreciation for the sacrifice of the person who created this wealth take what they have for granted and sometimes squander it all by not following the rules; we are doing the same thing when we ignore the rules of the trust fund of freedom left for us.
It is this freedom that allows you as an individual to believe what you choose to believe, to freely express your beliefs as long as doing so does not interfere with another individual's rights to believe what they choose to believe. The founders were also intelligent enough to realize that times and situations would change. That is why the contract, aka Constitution, came complete with easy to read instructions included on how to change it should times demand it. This process is called amending the Constitution, and the change is called, duh, an Amendment. And while changing the Constitution is not complicated, it is not easy.
That is by design. The founders knew from personal experience that the greatest threat to freedom was the government which is why the power of the federal government is incredibly limited in the Constitution. They realized that every law passed, regardless of how good the intention, could potentially damage the freedom of the individual since the enforcement of that law would require a sacrifice by individuals, either monetarily or in terms of personal liberty, in order to enact or enforce it.
Yet they also knew that there could be an idea or philosophy that came along which would gain the support of enough citizens that they would decide to allow the government to adopt and enforce it as law. This is why free speech is so important. It allows a way for these ideas to manifest. If enough people think it's a good idea, then the Constitution can be amended. But unless the people decide to allow the government to make such laws by amending the Constitution, the last line of Article 1, Section 8 clearly states that the federal government has no power to do so, and the 10th Amendment further solidifies this.
Unfortunately, few people realize that the last time someone came along who thought America needed a New Deal and was in office for nearly a generation he managed to pack the nation's highest court designed to be the last guardian against unconstitutional laws with appointees who were merely political allies. This Court singlehandedly expanded the role and power of the federal government by interpreting the Constitution in ways that no literate person possibly could. Because the Court today tends to spend more time staring at previous decisions, pardon the play on words law people, than they do actually interpreting the Constitution, an overwhelming majority of this false governmental power remains in tact and is growing.
Most people hated history class. And the Constitution is something they learned about there. Each time the government decides to do something that is a "good idea" based on some "belief of philosophy" in order to solve some problem that pops up, or as Obama put it "to solve problems we can't solve ourselves", the power of the government increases, and the freedom and rights of the individual decrease. Because most people slept through history class and don't realize how important the Constitution is, the government has become incredibly powerful by creating laws in order to solve problems that they have absolutely no right to create to begin with.
What most Americans don't realize is that the the Constitution isn't an archaic document that was written for "back then"; it is a Contract between we the people and our government. And we the people dictated the terms of that Contract. Every time the government decides it wants to do something in the best interest of the people that it isn't allowed to do, it violates that contract and erodes some individual's rights.
Think of it like this: If you had a contract with someone to build a house for you for a set price, you would expect to receive exactly what you agreed to for exactly the price agreed upon. If the builder knew that you hadn't read the contract he could give you less; he could also charge you more, and you would never know. This would benefit the builder but it would harm you.
Similarly, if the builder just decided that your house would look better with brick instead of vinyl and decided to build it that way although you didn't ask for it, you would be outraged when you were expected to pay for the additions he made without authorization.
But if the builder decided that you should have a brick house, and explained that to you, and you agreed; you could then make that change--by changing the contract. If you wanted something else added that was important enough to you to give up something for it, you could then go to the builder and ask him to do it (he would likely oblige since he would receive more money) and once again, you would change the contract. But anything done without changing the contract would without question be detrimental to the party giving up something and be exploited by the party that gains something, regardless of the intent. Which brings us back to voting based on your beliefs.
When you vote based on your beliefs instead of voting based on who is most capable of doing the job they swear they will do, you are essentially saying, "I'm okay with having my contract violated as long as the government thinks it's a good idea; since the person I voted for claims to believe what I believe, it probably will probably work out better."
But what happens when your candidate doesn't win? Well then, you blame the other people who voted based on their beliefs for ruining your country. If you are a Republican, you blame FDR's "good idea" called the New Deal for creating the welfare state. If you are a Democrat, you blame the Republican's "good idea" of democratizing the Middle East for the war in Iraq. The thing both of these "good ideas" have in common is that there is absolutely nothing in the Contract that allows them to begin with, but that matters little if the people haven't read it.
Of course, neither party points this out because if the people actually understood that their Contract was being violated, when the party out of power got their turn to be in power again, they wouldn't be able to exploit the Contract themselves. That's why winning elections by getting you to vote your beliefs is more important than getting you to vote on the one thing that should matter: the person with the best ability to do the job they were sworn in to do. Still wondering what it is they swear to do?
It's the last sentence of Article 2, Section 1 of that Contract. If you still don't see why it's important for you to read it, I'll just put it here for you:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Pretty simple, huh?
Of course, both parties want you to think someone like Ron Paul who actually keeps his promise is crazy because if someone like him were elected, the people would see how simple this government thing really is, start paying attention, and regain their freedom and power (which would take it from the politicians).
Anyone who is really for the "little people" has to be for the "little person." An individual is the smallest minority, and an individual's natural born rights are protected via the Constitution. If a politician isn't willing to keep the only promise they make going into office, a promise that would protect the smallest minority, why would any sensible person believe that that person would stand for them because they are part of a larger minority? And even if they did, how can you not see that the next person elected could just as easily take away whatever you were given because you weren't a member of the favored class/group of citizens?
But it's not just Obama. It's both parties. And it's because they violate the Contract between we the people and our government. And we seem to tacitly endorse this because we voted based on our beliefs instead of voting for candidates who would ensure we had the right to hold those beliefs.
If you are a Republican/Democrat first, Conservative/Liberal second, and an American third vote your beliefs. If you are an American first, vote for someone who will defend the very thing that protects your right to be what an American is supposed to be: Free. That choice is as simple as government was supposed to be before politics got in the way. If you vote for the best person (or at least best available), your vote isn't wasted. Don't sacrifice what you want most (freedom) for what you want at the moment (someone to solve your problems--or at least the ones you can't solve on your own).
In Congress July 4, 1776 this was written:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.
It's not too late to alter our government so that we really can be America again. But we can't do it if we keep voting for people because we think they share our beliefs.
Your fellow American,
John Armstrong
Like this Article? Thumb it.
Want to spread it? Social Bookmark it.
Comment, it's fun
As always, unlike the NFL, you have the author's permission to rebroadcast, retransmit, reproduce, or do anything else you'd like with this article to promote the Restoration of our Republic.
strongarmedjohn@yahoo.com
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 12 thumbs so far
The views expressed in this
article are those of John Armstrong only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. John Armstrong is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Want to comment on this
article? Leave your comment here. Your email address is
required to track your comment. However, we will neither
publish your email address nor distribute it to other
organizations or persons. The only reason we might use
it would be if we needed to contact you regarding your
comment. All comments are subject to our
terms of use policy.
